Bones Don't Get Scarred
by TheEscapedCharacter
Summary: ...but the minds animating them do. Sans and Papyrus aren't as okay as people think they are. Rated T for medical abuse, human (monster?) experimentation, eating disorders, puns, sensitive topics, angst, Gaster, and trigger warnings. Based on/inspired by zarla's Handplates AU and Yessica-N's Tumblr Chronicles. I own nothing but plot.


**Yes. I suck. I'm horrific.**

 **I also** ** _should_** **be updating Untrue Resets, but...I'm kind of stuck on the next chapter. And I had the idea, so...why not?**

 **This is based off on zarla's Handplates AU on DeviantArt, which is basically the skelebros being experiments of Gaster's. It makes me cry, so many freaking feels.**

 **So yes, this is based off of the Handplates universe, and shares almost every detail except Sans and Papyrus never forgot Gaster.**

 **They wouldn't be completely fine after medical torture, right? So here's the first of maybe a few oneshots about dealing with those side-effects. This oneshot was also highly inspired by Yessica-N's Eating Disorder!Papyrus and their series of oneshots, especially Test 5-954, which is utterly their idea. I don't own it.**

 **You know what else I don't own? Undertale.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

" _Subject 2-P."_

 _The taller skeleton child looked up into the cracked face of his creator. He didn't understand-why had he been separated from his brother? He wished his brother was there, and at the same time, he was very glad that his delicate sibling was exempt._

" _Y-YES?"_

" _There will be a new test."_

 _The child tried to repress a shudder. He hated tests. They hurt. Again, he was glad his brother wasn't there._

" _OKAY," he forced out._

" _You and 1-S will get one piece of food. You will get it first. You can eat as much as you want. Whatever is left, I will give to 1-S."_

 _The creator left. The child was frozen, stunned._

 _Of course, the choice was simple. Brother was fragile. Brother needed food. He could handle not eating until the test was over._

 _...He'd never gone without eating before._

 _It couldn't be that hard, right?_

* * *

ENTRY ONE:

2-P has refused to -It has a very strong bond with 1-S. This could be exploited later. 1-S is concerned about 2-P. It didn't resist the tests today. It appears Test 5-954 is going well.

ENTRY TWO:

2-P has once again refused food.1-S is highly agitated by its broth-cellmate's disappearance. Predicted side-effects of separation are occurring. Everything is as planned.

ENTRY THREE:

2-P is getting weaker, but did not eat. 1-S is alternately acting frantic and subdued, disappearing into a catatonic state when I push him-it. Oh well. At least it has stopped talking back.

ENTRY FOUR:

2-P's bones seem quite brittle now. It still rejects food. It's interesting how far it will go for its bro-cellmate. 1-S is highly distressed at 2-P's absence. It barely responds to my commands.

ENTRY FIVE:

2-P is severely weakened and spends most hours delirious. However, he declined food, so at least it has some sanity left. 1-S spends days in an almost comatose unawareness. I have documented hi-its actions in a separate journal. It gives in easily to me. I should be pleased.

ENTRY SIX:

2-P relented and ate the food he was given. It appears he realized what he had done and forced himself to vomit it up. 1-S caught on to the testing after being given no food. It really is too smart for its own good. It is severely distraught and acts horrified. 1-S has started talking back once again. I almost missed that-A shame.

ENTRY SEVEN:

Both 2-P and 1-S refused the food. 1-S asked me to give it back to 2-P. I, of course, declined. 2-P is usually almost unconscious and still delirious.

ENTRY EIGHT:

They both refused food again. I had to strap down 1-S and feed him-it through a tube. It fought me all the way through. 2-P heard its brothe-cellmate and appears to be trying to get up and get out of its cell. It, of course, failed.

ENTRY NINE:

I had to forcefully feed 1-S again. 2-P was horribly frenzied at its cellmate's cries. It has broken out of the catatonic state and asks me about 1-S whenever I pass by. It is still sickly and unsteady.

ENTRY TEN:

Test 5-954 has finished. I brought 2-P back to its cell. It has not let go of 1-S since. They seem happ-These results were very interesting. I will have to review them and possibly try the test again to get more accurate results. 1-S's reaction to isolation was entertaini-unusual. Perhaps this will be the subject of Test 5-955…?

* * *

Undyne grinned widely as she dished out mounds of spaghetti. The human-their name was Frisk, right?-sent her a tiny smile and a few gestures. From her brief time learning with Papyrus, Undyne could deduce that they were speaking in hands and saying thank you. It was kind of inconvenient to have to translate everything they said, but whatever. Whatever floated their boat, she supposed.

( _God,_ she was spending _way_ too much time with Sans)

With a signature Undyne-style beam, she deposited the serving bowl in the center of the table. "Eat up!" she barked as Papyrus plunked the pan of steaming, burnt sauce in front of Lady Toriel.

"ANOTHER CULINARY MASTERPIECE!" the taller skeleton declared.

"looks great, bro," Sans hummed, taking a generous helping of the sauce. Undyne grinned proudly at the passionate look on his face as he tried the first bite. "yep, it's no _impasta_."

"I'M GOING TO IGNORE THAT."

"you _cannoli_ do so much."

"I'M GOING TO IGNORE THAT, TOO."

Sans winked, shrugging. Papyrus glared, but sat down next to him anyway. "LADY ASGORE, WOULD YOU LIKE SOME SAUCE?"

Lady Toriel accepted the bowl gracefully. "Of course, my child. And just Toriel is fine."

Undyne sat down across from the skeleton brothers, next to Alphys. She glanced over eagerly to see Alphys' reaction.

It was interesting. Her girlfriend-god, Undyne loved saying that-tried a tentative forkful of noodles. Her expression changed so fast, Undyne almost cheered.

"I-it's just like i-instant ramen!" Alphys exclaimed, taking another helping.

Undyne would take that as a compliment.

"Ha! Thanks, Alphy!" She nudged the scientist, enjoying her bright blush at the nickname.

 _GOOD,_ Frisk signed.

"WHY THANK YOU, HUMAN!" Papyrus bounced in his seat. "IT IS WONDERFUL TO KNOW THAT YOU LOVE MY COOKING SO MUCH!"

" _Our_ cooking," Undyne reminded, flashing her pupil/best friend a smile.

"OF COURSE!"

"You have really improved, my children," Lady Toriel praised.

"Thanks!" Undyne basked in the compliments. It was nice to feel appreciated.

For a moment, the table was silent as the guests and cooks digested. Undyne noticed with fierce pride that almost everyone took seconds, except-

"Hey, Papyrus, why aren't you eating?"

Said skeleton stiffened and looked down...guiltily? Sans glanced at his brother, his permanent smile becoming as close to a frown as possible. But instead of piling spaghetti on his plate like Undyne would have done, he smiled gently.

"pap. hey, papyrus, look at me."

All eyes were on the skeletons as Papyrus raised his eyes to Sans, who grinned encouragingly. Without coaxing the other skeleton at all, Sans deliberately twirled some spaghetti on a fork and ate it slowly. Papyrus watched hungrily, with both the literal definition of the word and the sense of enormous relief that action seemed to bring. Undyne didn't understand, but one look at Sans told her that now wasn't the right time.

The short skeleton purposefully ate the entire plate full of spaghetti with the entire table watching. No one spoke.

Sans swallowed one more time, before pulling over the large bowl of spaghetti. He looked back at Papyrus.

"look," he said softly. "there's lots. i'm getting seconds now. do you want some?"

Papyrus pressed his teeth together and his eye lights swiveled to survey the table. Sans nodded. "yep, they've got enough, too. see, there's lots more in the bowl, and some still in the pot, right?" The shorter skeleton looked fixedly at Undyne.

She jumped in her seat. "Uh, yeah! For sure! And there's a bunch in your fridge, too!" she reassured, with no idea what she was doing.

Although, judging by the matching relieved smiles on Sans' and Papyrus' faces, she must've said the right thing. Papyrus took more spaghetti, and, taking tiny bites, started eating, stealing glances around the table as if to make sure none of their food had disappeared.

Conversation resumed. No one at the table talked about what had just happened, although it must've been present in all their minds. Undyne guessed it was a sensitive topic.

She would ask Sans later.

* * *

 **Voila! Instant feels! You're welcome.**

 **So, yeah. I feel like after that test, Papyrus would be very touchy about eating, irrational fears that if he ate no one else would get to. Meaning, just watching everyone eat and knowing that there's more than enough for him too would soothe him. That's my interpretation.**

 **(I'm bad at writing Undyne, shh. I'm getting better though! I think.)**

 **If you have any ideas, please tell me! I would love a few prompts!**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews and constructive criticism are welcome, and have a great day!**

 **-TheEscapedCharacter**


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